PESHAWAR, Nov 4: A petition has been filed in the Peshawar High Court seeking a court order for making public any 'secret deal' between the Pakistan and US governments about carrying out drone attacks in the tribal areas.

The Defence of Pakistan Council (DPC) and five other religiopolitical parties moved the court on Friday stating that so far around 277 attacks by the pilotless aircraft had taken place in Pakistan which resulted in killing of 1,680 persons and injuries to 2,634 others. The petitioners are: DPC through its provincial convener Syed Yousaf Shah, who is also provincial chief of JUI (Samiul Haq group); former deputy speaker of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Ikramullah Shahid; All Pakistan Abdul Qayyum Khan League; central information secretary of Jamiat Ahl-i-Hadith; Tanzeem-i-Islami, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; JUI (Nazriyati group); and district president of Ahle Sunnat-wal-Jamaat, Maulana Mohammad Ismail.

The petitioners stated that it was their fundamental right in view of Article 19-A of the Constitution to have access to information in all matters of public importance including any secret deal allowing drone attacks in Pakistan.

The petitioners requested the court to hold that the government was bound to apprise the people of Pakistan about any secret deal and if it was so, it should submit copy of that deal.

They also prayed that the said deal should also be made public in all the leading national and international print and electronic media so that the people of Pakistan may adopt appropriate measures to protect their lives and save their country.

The petitioners stated that in the meantime the government may be directed to produce in court copies of parliamentary resolution in which the public representatives had opposed and condemned the drone attacks and also of any corres- pondence in this respect with US and Nato forces.

The respondents in the petition are: Federation of Pakistan through secretary interior; defence secretary; information secretary; chief secretary and home secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The petitioners claimed that the Washington Post on Oct 4, 2008, had reported that there was a secret deal between Pakistan and US governments allowing drone attacks.